Israel's government is buying ads on Ted Cruz's podcast, and the money legally lands with a super PAC that exists to help him — bad news for anyone who thought foreign money was walled off from US politics.

• Ad money for Israel's tourism campaign flows through iHeart Media to Truth and Courage, the super PAC that works for Cruz but is not formally run by him.
• Politicians cannot take foreign government money directly, but this arrangement sidesteps that — and the FEC has said it is allowed after Citizens United.
• The campaign targets Christian travelers, part of a push to rebuild tourism after American visits to Israel collapsed since 2019.
• Cruz is already one of the most pro-Israel voices in Congress and has taken large sums from pro-Israel donors, so the ads reinforce a position he already holds.
• His podcast's audience numbers look shaky — huge subscriber counts paired with tiny view counts on most episodes.

Outlook: Expect more scrutiny of foreign and pro-Israel money in US campaigns as public support for the relationship keeps slipping.